Zacks Return On Equity Strategy Highlights: Columbus McKinnon Corp., Gold Kist, Inc., MDC Holdings, Inc., and WESCO International

Business Wire, August 31, 2005

CHICAGO -- One of the quickest ways to gauge whether a company is creating assets or gobbling up investor's cash is to look at their Return On Equity (ROE). The fast moving ROE Profit Track screening strategy from Zacks.com has generated double-digit returns for four consecutive years, including a 2004 return of 30.3%. In 2005, it continues to outperform the S&P 500 by a wide margin. Four stocks meeting this screen's exclusive criteria, as of August 30, 2005, are Columbus McKinnon Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCO), Gold Kist, Inc. (NASDAQ:GKIS), MDC Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC), and WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC). View the entire list of stocks for the ROE Profit Track at http://at.zacks.com/?id=1853

Here are details about four companies currently identified by the ROE Profit Track:

Columbus McKinnon Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCO) recently provided an upbeat forecast, stating that it could return to the $600 million level in sales and achieve operating profit margins in the 11%-12% range in the foreseeable future. In late July, the company reported that fiscal first-quarter earnings per share topped the consensus estimate by 50%. The result also soared past last year's earnings. Columbus McKinnon said its first quarter results clearly demonstrate the earnings power it has gained through its lean manufacturing and product and facility rationalization initiatives. CMCO boasts a ROE of 21.97% and a price to sales ratio of .53.

Gold Kist, Inc. (NASDAQ:GKIS) has one of the highest ROE figures for this profit track at 34.54%. It also has a favorable price to sales ratio of .38. The company recently posted fiscal third-quarter earnings of 87 cents per share, surpassing the consensus estimate by approximately 10%. GKIS mentioned that it is strengthening its customer base in all market segments by providing innovative new products and package design.

MDC Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC) is creating assets for investors as evidenced by its ROE of 29.93%. In mid-July, the company announced second-quarter earnings of $2.25 per share, the highest for any second quarter in its history. The result outperformed last year's $1.87 and beat the consensus estimate by almost 8%. MDC also noted that it achieved second quarter records for home closings, revenues and home gross margins. The home builder sports a price to sales ratio of .74.

WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) released second-quarter earnings of 56 cents per share in mid-July, jumping ahead of the consensus estimate by 12% and outpacing the year prior result. The company, which has a ROE of 23.72% and a price to sales ratio of .39, said sales levels and productivity continued to accelerate through the quarter as sales per workday and sales per employee reached record levels for both the month of June and the quarter.

Discover all the current stocks currently on the ROE Profit Track at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1854

About Profit Tracks

What is a "Profit Track"? Each Profit Track is a successful stock picking strategy with proven results through the Bear Market of 2001-2002 and the Bull run started in 2003. On Zacks.com we have created these nine unique screens to offer investors great strategies to potentially outperform the market in the years ahead. In 2004, the Upgrades and Revisions strategy was the top performing Profit Track with a return of 55.7% followed by the Low Price Stocks screen with a 54.8% return. To see all nine strategies along with philosophy, past performance, and current stocks, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=1838.

All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. If you like this screening strategy, but want to narrow down the list of stocks and even improve the performance, then you should start a free trial to this powerful stock picking tool. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report "Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies" at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2156

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